Happy (VERY belated) birthday, America!

We love July 4th over here in our house! Something about the holiday just screams summer. We're so fortunate to have met a great group of friends when Mr. K first moved to DC after he graduated from Elon (I still had a year left). Mr. K lived with a group of the guys for three years in a row home close to the National Zoo, and they threw some of the best parties. July 4th was one of the biggest, if not the party of the year! As everyone grew up and out of the house, we thought we should carry on the tradition. We decided to cut out bobbing for airplane bottles and setting off fireworks in trash cans, and instead went for chalkboard signs and corn hole. A "1665" party can never be complete without a singing of 'Happy Birthday, America.' Oh, and red, white and blue jello shots, of course ;) (Hey Nicole!)

Happy Birthday, America!

So, this year, we gathered with some family and friends from all walks of life, and it was a blast! I was able to tap into some creativity/Pinterest-love, and turned our tablescape into something fun.Oh, and yes, we built a patio at the beginning of the summer! I'm a little late on showing that part of the house transformation ;)

My dad saw me taking pictures of the house and said he had to take one of me in front of it. Here you go!

Hey Dev!

Pre-Ada!

Thanks, Pinterest.

I think he was enjoying the So Icey Boys cake from the wedding!

Date Night Dinner Series: Appetizer

Cooking in our kitchen, eating in our house is the highlight of our weeks more often than not. Mr. K is an amazing cook (can I say chef?), and he loves cooking. The kitchen is what really sold us on this house, and we've made every penny count since we moved in. One of the biggest ways is cooking new things at home instead of going out to restaurants for date night. Believe me, we do love a fun time out, but perusing Harris Teeter's specials, wandering the store for new things is exciting to us.

We're also finally in town for a few weeks together which is a joy, and makes me so happy. We've been traveling a lot for a few reasons and we haven't been able to spend too much time together at home. When we do get a night or two, we brainstorm fun dinners to cook (for Mr. K to cook, and for me to photograph and drink wine).

Tonight's wine of choice was Alamos Malbec in honor of Pope Francis being in town this week! My father's family is from Argentina, so having an Argentine Pope is even more special. My parents attended the Mass outside of the Shrine this week and they said it was so special. More on that later. Let's get to the food!

First course was mussels and gazpacho! We're channeling the summer weather that's slowly on its way out. Both were so delicious. Mussels were steamed in a lemon, wine, cilantro sauce.

All serving platters are most likely from Home Goods :) That's our go-to spot during our free weekends to try and find new things. 

Zest of one lemon 

3 cups white wine (2 for the mussels, one for you!)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons grated, crushed ginger

1/2 of one shallot

2 tablespoons of butter

A handful of Cilantro (once you pull the mussels out, toss the cilantro in and mix 'em up)

Melt butter in the pan, throw in the garlic, shallot and ginger. Sautee for for 30-40 seconds, add in the wine (don't forget to sip some along the way, too). Boil the wine. 

Throw in the mussels, channel your inner T Swift and shake it off (shake the mussels in the pan a bit). 

Toss in the cilantro, mix up a bit, and then put everything into a bowl, and serve. Don't forge to put the wine mixture in the bowl too. Enjoy! 

Appetizer #2: Gazpacho

In typical Mr. K fashion, he didn't actually follow a recipe. That's a large part of the reason why it either takes me forever to actually write a food post, or why I don't post them at all... because he adds his own twist to every single thing he makes, he combines a bunch of recipes, or just thinks of things on his own, and says he's going to tell me everything but never actually does ;) So let's give it a shot with the gazpacho... 

2 lbs roma tomatoes

1/2 vidalia onion

2 poblano peppers 

3 gloves garlic

1 cucumber peeled and diced 

1/4 cup sherry cooking wine (and some actual wine ;)) 

1/4 olive oil 

1 tablespoon Paprika (if you want it a little smoky) 

1 tablespoon of cumin (again, we really like this spice) 

Chop everything, put into a bowl, let is sit out for an hour, puree with a cup of whipping cream (we like it creamy, but if you don't, use water instead). 

Then put it in the fridge for 2 hours, up to a day (we didn't keep it in the fridge for two hours because we started late, but it was still good. It will probably be pretty awesome tomorrow, filled with even more flavor). 

Top with raw, fresh ingredients, like chopped tomato, cucumber and onion. Add croutons if you like, too :) 

Serve and enjoy! 

Zucchini Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

All day long yesterday I was really in the mood for some sort of a muffin but after our vacation, I knew I had to eat healthy. To my Pinterest board I went, checked out the "healthy board" and saw this recipe. I edited it a little bit, but didn't take any pictures besides the final product because we had a guest over (hey Devon!). It goes to show how simple this recipe is (read: no Kitchen Aid required). If you look past the sugar that's in here, it's a pretty healthy breakfast option. Pair one muffin with a yogurt or banana, and you have yourself a delicious, hearty (and pretty filling) breakfast. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats (I used Quakers Old Fashioned Oats)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup sugar (I know, I know, it's a big much)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs + 1 egg white
3/4 cup oil
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup grated carrot
optional: 3/4 cup raisins (I didn't use these - I thought I had a box at home but I didn't. They still turned out really good)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and oil. Stir in grated zucchini and carrots. Add to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
3. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for about 15-20 minutes. They are done when a toothpick (or knife, or fork) comes out clean and tops spring back when lightly touched.

Enjoy for breakfast, afternoon stack or even dessert!

Wedded on a Train in Perth

I haven't kept up with this blog nearly enough as I wanted (and want) to. I've started to finally have a lot of good ideas to write about, but it's just finding the time. I finally told Mr. K the other day that I just need to "put up the darn food pictures that we always take with our nice camera, and then get around to writing the recipes when I can!" He insisted that he would help because, after all, he is the mastermind behind most of these recipes. But fear not, there are house updates to come, favorites I've started writing about, and lots of yummy food to gush over.

Until then though, I read the cutest article on Buzzfeed this morning about a couple in Perth who got married on a train. What the bride said really stuck - the train was moving during their ceremony, so their wedding took place all over Perth. How cool is that?

Image from Buzzfeed

How many people can say they've wedded on a train?

What's the coolest wedding you've ever been to?

Easter Weekend, Family & 30th Birthday Celebrations

Easter weekend here was a great weekend! My brother-in-law and his fiance came into town, and it was there first time here since our house had been finished. It also happened to be John's 30th birthday, which was such a fun celebration as well.

Being in DC means we have tons of brunch options... bottomless brunch options! We went to one of our favorite spots on U Street, called Local 16. Where else can you choose any entree, including (breakfast) pizzas, and bottomless mimosas, bellinis, Blood Mary's, beer, coffee and juice. The food is delicious, but the best thing is the bottomless part of it for sure! They come in big mason jars, and they keep coming.

After the brunch, we ventured downtown to see the cherry blossoms, however they hadn't bloomed yet. It's okay though, because we veered off course and stopped at Hotel Washington's P.O.V which is their rooftop bar that has by far the most beautiful view of the city, overlooking the White House and all the monuments. Such a great place to take visitors. This past weekend I had a couple girlfriends in town and we did the same thing - brunch and Cherry Blossoms - and they had peeked! They were beautiful, and I can't wait to share pictures.

Easter morning we had my parents and grandparents over for breakfast after Mass, and we had such a great, delicious spread! Didn't take any pictures of it :( We had some downtime (naptime and Parenthood marathon) for a few hours until it was time to go to my grandparents' house for dinner. We were so happy that the in-laws joined us, it made the family time wonderful!

My grandmother cooked the BEST ham that we had ever had. Everyone was raving about it, and we were so thankful that my grandmother drove to our house a couple days later and dropped off some leftovers that we didn't take with us.

One year in our home!

Mr. K, me, my parents

Hey Joe!

The Ks!

Breakfast Nook Update

I can't believe it's been so long since we put something into his bare room, but we love it! We wanted to find a casual, wooden circle table for this nook. Honestly, we had the future in mind when thinking about he functionality of this - kids doing their homework while we're cooking dinner right next to them, casual daily family dinners, and all that jazz. We found this great, perfect one on Craigslist! You could tell that the family we got it from used it for the same purpose with their two daughters that we look forward to. There's so much character on the table and chairs already so it's exactly what we were looking for for the space.

Before:

After 

Have you met Goodreads?

Since I've graduated college and have finished the requirement to read books that I don't particularly enjoy, I've started to actually take a liking to reading. Especially  now with my hour-long commute to and from work, I have no choice. Mr. K and I bought a Kindle Fire a number of years ago, since it's a convenient thing to bring around and search the internet with. I'll admit, it's an old version now, doesn't have a camera and only works on wifi. But honestly, I'm really the only one that uses it now, and primarily for reading anyways. I did just see an article recently about how to really utilize your Kindle Fire to the max. I know I'm missing so many of its capabilities, and since I have it on me 24/7 now, I should really go  back and read that article thoroughly.

Anyways, I just finished a really good book called My Sister's Grave over the weekend. I highly recommend it. One thing I love about Goodreads - besides seeing what everyone else is reading and getting great ideas for future reads - is that I can track when I started the book and when I finished it (if I'm diligent in adding the book the day I start, and consequentially updating my status to "finished" the day I actually finish it. For someone who hasn't always been a huge reader, I'm actually very punctual about adding my books, because it's exciting to me to track my progress. I have a goal to read 10 books in 2015, and I think I'll be increasing that goal pretty soon. So to you new-ish readers, welcome! We'll have fun here. Check out my Goodreads to see what I hope to read.

I go between Amazon Prime books and my county's library Overdrive database. They recently (aka in the last couple years) started offering ebooks online in their database, downloads straight to the device. It's great and convenient, except when you're on a waiting list of 270 people, for 73 copies of Little Big Lies. Oh well, I'll get it sometime.

So this is the boring stuff, I know. Check back soon for updates on the house. They're pretty exciting!!

Because I had to share!

The cutest post I think I've ever read off of Buzzfeed. If you need a reason to smile today, or just lighten up your afternoon a little bit, this is how you do it. Enjoy!

From Vogue: Do you need this?

As we go into the weekend, I think it's important to set a goal (or goals) for yourself to accomplish over the next three days. I found this great article posted on a blog I follow daily, Cottage and Vine, and it really got me thinking... I could really do some damage in my closet this weekend - going through summer and winter clothes to decide what I need and what I don't need. I already have boxes and bags ready to go to consignment and Goodwill, but they're sitting in our basement...not moving. I think this weekend would be the perfect time to purge! Let's see if we can fill up a trash bag, or medium-sized cardboard box to donate or sell. Use this flow chart from Vogue to help you find your way through that closet and purge!! Good luck! 

So I ran a mile today...

That's right. A whole mile. To some that's just 1/4 of their warm up. For me, it's a good start (er, re-start). If you've looked in my bio, you've seen that I've done a triathlon (more to come on that at some point. It was a highlight of my life) and I like to run and workout on a normal basis. Well, that 'normal basis' stopped about 7 months ago for reasons I won't go into. I haven't had the motivation, the inspiration to run and workout as much as I used to. When we first moved into the new neighborhood, I was eager to explore the hilly streets, which I did pretty often for awhile. And then it (ok, I) stopped. All I had at the house were some 10lb weights, and after a few months of not doing anything, I realized that I couldn't do as much with the 10lb-ers as I used to. I got discouraged. I stopped. Besides, there was so much other stuff I could get done in the house, around the house and everywhere else except anything that had to with weights or working out. Right?

In comes our new office fitness center that's a total beaut. They had the opening party yesterday and it was officially open to gym-goers today. I prepared my gym bag last night, full of all the necessary items, including my new Stella and Dot travel hanging bag. I got a head start on the morning, took the metro in with Mr. K bright and early, and was only 1 of 3/4 people at the gym. I can't wait to start this new wave of working out, hoping it will motivate me and inspire me, keep me grounded in other aspects of life.

I followed the workout up with two of my egg muffins that I made on Tuesday night. Recipe to come tomorrow! But I'll tell you this much, it's fueled me already this morning, and I know it will take me to lunch (in addition to my coffee, of course). But it felt so good this morning to just open the fridge, grab a sandwich bag of two egg muffins and be on my merry way. It's the life of being prepared, and I wish I had discovered this way sooner in life. But better late than never they say, and I completely agree with this one.

Yesterday, while Mr. K and I were both working from home, we decided to defrost the whole family pack of chicken breasts and throw them in the crock pot. The shredded chicken was the foundation for our enchiladas last night, with homemade salsa of course; will be added to our salads for lunch today, dinner and meals tomorrow. Thus, being prepared again is getting to be pretty darn sweet. No need to over think things. The crock pot is your friend, so use it! The recipes for these meals also coming soon. Happy Thursday!

Powder Room Update

In an effort to make our house feel more homey, we're working on it room by room. Our powder room seemed like an easy fix, so during our almost bi-weekly trip to Home Depot, we sought out shelves that we wanted to try out. We had one vision in mind and then saw this great shelf we loved, and ran with it. It ended up matching perfectly with the waste basket and toilet paper holder that was already in there! When we went to Michaels for one of their big Christmas sales, we fell in love with this frame and thought it was the perfect feel for the bathroom. I'm actually surprised we didn't get a few more of them because we both loved it!

The last photo I actually took on Friday night, a couple weeks after we actually finished it, but I realized I didn't have an updated version with the new photo and candles that we put in there. The photo in the frame is one of our one from when we took a walk around the Capitol when we lived at Navy Yard last November (2013). I love how it turned out and it's feeling more homey now. On to the rest of the house!

Before: (See how plain it is?! I can't believe we actually let it go that way for so long)

After:

Now all we need is some color on the walls. And you're probably saying the same thing. However, we promised ourselves we would wait until the one-year mark because that's when our warranty is up. In other words, as part of this new home build process, the builder comes back at 11 months after move-in and checks the house for certain things, and fixes it. Examples include cracks in the walls as the foundation settles (we've already seen some, and come February we'll be taking to the walls with that gorgeous blue painters tape to everything that we see in preparation of our 11 months. To say that we've been in here for that long is beyond me, but that's for another day). Other things they'll check (and hopefully fix): nail pops, bowing of the hardwood floors, etc.

So until then, we'll love these blank walls... aka canvases!!